SB Nation User Blog: mauichuck

Texeira Scent two Yankess

mauichuck — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:31:33 -0000

Texeira Scent two Yankess

Picked up my local paper this morning and saw this headline at the top of the Sports Page. Had me going for a minute.

Schilling Takes a Shot at Manny

mauichuck — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:58:57 -0000

Schilling Takes a Shot at Manny

Normally I'd discount much of what Schilling has to say here, but it looks like Merloni is co-signing for Curt. Manny - what a doofus.

The other interesting thing in here is that Curt says we - that's we the fan I guess - only hear/know about 10-20% of what's actually going on in the club house. Sounds about right.

Paul Hoynes' Analyzes What Went Wrong and How to Fix It

mauichuck — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:04:32 -0000

Paul Hoynes' Analyzes What Went Wrong and How to Fix It

Wow, I'm in violent agreement with every point Hoynes makes. When did he get so smart?

It's All Over

mauichuck — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:01:07 -0000

It's All Over

I can't imagine why nobody beat me to this one. Even the always optomistic Terry Pluto is calling it a season.

A Trip to The House That Ruth Built

mauichuck — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:48:20 -0000

Well I finally made it to Yankee Stadium last night. Took New Jersey Transit up from Princeton Junction to Penn Station and then the "D" Train to Fordham Rd., got off at 181st St. and walked about 10 blocks to Mario’s on Arthur Ave. Met up with Gradysmanlady and a couple of his buddies – ate a little pasta and drank a little vino. All a perfect prelude to a perfect night. GML's a pretty good dude, and for some unknown reason the baseball god’s elected to put us right behind one another waaaaay up in the upper deck. Unfortunately my buddy from Philly was having a hard time – cuz of his knees – making it all the way up to the Himalayan reaches of the stadium so we caged a coupla seats near some NYC secretarial types and their Manhattan real estate agent goomba – he spent most of the game trying to impress the young things with how much he knew about Manhattan real estate – whatta maroon. Later JulioBernarzard showed up after the sixth and we watched most of the remainder of the game together.

Anyway suffice it to say that watching Delucci hit that three run pinch- hit shot offa Chamberlain in the eighth was awful sweet. You could feel the air go outta the stadium as it cleared the fences. We were sitting with about half a dozen or so other Tribe fans from Connecticut. We were all screaming and yelling and high-fiving one another amidst a throng of Yankee partisans – all of which gave us their best version of the ol’ stink-eye. But so what? The Tribe had just taken the lead over the vaunted Yankees offa the unhittable Mr. Chamberlain. What could possibly be better – other than listening to about 2 or 300 other Tribe fans screaming their joy at the Yankee’s misfortune? Like the noted fourteenth century B.C. philosopher Conan the Barbarian usta say, "Good is crushing your enemies, seeing them driven before you and listening to the lamentations of their women". Truer words were never spoken.

Some observations:

Fausto is having trouble locating the plate – duh. And it’s not just that batters are laying off the low stuff. He has stretches were he can’t locate the plate side-to-side or up and down. But then he throws that heater up there at 96 and all seems right. I think he just needs a little work on the side with the pitching coach.
Marte’s a player. There I said it. His defense is excellent. That tag he made in the bottom of the fifth – on Abreu, I think – was an old school veteran play. He stood stone still acting like nothing was happening until, at the last instant he caught the ball and tagged out the runner. Very impressive. He also looked like he had an idea at the plate. The boy at least looks like a hitter, which is more than I can say for most of the line-up.
Hafner looks ab – so – lute – lee lost at the plate. It looks like he’s guessing on every pitch. I don’t know if his stance is too wide, or if he’s over-striding or what, but until he starts to recognize pitches he’s gonna struggle.
Jamie Carroll on the other hand looks like he knows what he's doing with a bat. He takes good swings at good pitches and plays a pretty decent second base – not a good as Asdrubal – but pretty decent. Which is why I think that Cabrera is gonna end up in Buffalo soon. There’s no need to keep him up in the majors and having him struggle when there’s a good replacement available.
Garko, Peralta and Shoppach all look a little confused at the plate. And yes I know Peralta hit that homer. But still they look tentative. These guys will come around but it’s gonna take some work.
Gotta love Raffie L – wicked delivery makes his stuff look harder than it is. Same with Jensen Lewis – if he had a more conventional delivery he’d be getting killed. As it is the hitters are having a tough time finding his stuff.
Alert the media! Yankee fans are a bunch of douche nozzles. I must admit we were treated politely by almost all of the NY fans but in the end their baseball knowledge, for the most part is limited to, "well we’ve won 26 WS, so this year’s team is gonna be great too". I had one older fan tell me that the Tribe hasn’t had a good pitcher since Sam McDowell. Evidently last year’s Cy Young results haven’t been announced yet in Gotham.

I always have big fun at the ballpark – always. But last night was special. Got to meet some of my LGT colleagues, watch the current Yankee HoF designate blow-up and listen to Yankee fans kvetch and flop around – perfect. And, oh yeah, LeStunod choked big time with the game on the line. Two for eighteen indeed!

Well, that might be my last visit to old Yankee Stadium – unless of course those dipwads some how buy a seat at this year’s play-offs. In which case I’ll be back to watch the Tribe pound them into sawdust and break a few balls.

LGT Field Trip

mauichuck — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:38:33 -0000

This ain't really a fanpost, cuz I don't expect any discussion. But here it is: me and some of the other LGT guys are goin to watch the Tribe massacre the Yankees Tuesday night in NYC. Anybody else wanna join up? Yous can reach me at cghardy@maui.net or on my cell at (808) 268-5220. Oh yeah here's sixteen more words to make it 75 word total - ya know so it's 75 words.

Gib Shanley sloughes this mortal coil

mauichuck — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:34:51 -0000

Gib Shanley sloughes this mortal coil

I'm sure many of you have already seen this, but just in case you haven't here's a blurb about Gib Shanley from the PD. I especially love the story about the Iranian flag.

There were giants back then, the likes of which we may never see again.

LGT goes to NYC

mauichuck — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:25:49 -0000

OK, I’m organizing a little soiree to Yankee Stadium for the May 6th Yankees/Indians game. It looks like Turk, jhon, Julio and a coupla of the New Jersey guys are interested. Anyway I figure we can meet up at Mario’s on Arthur Ave. in the Bronx prior to the game or somewhere else if this isn’t convenient.

If you haven’t got tickets or need tickets, let me know and I’ll see what I can do. Just drop me a line at cghardy@maui.net.

What, Am I the Only One That Wants to Talk About the Wire?

mauichuck — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:13:34 -0000

I just read this the other day and it helps explain alot about my/our favorite TV program. Actually it lives up to HBO's motto - it's not just TV - it's the best fictional work I can remember in quite some time.

Anyhow, I thought we could talk about our expectations for the finale prior to its airing this Sunday. Clearly McNulty's in deep kim chee along with the other cops. Our reporter at the Sun might just survive his whole "fiction as reporting" thing with the editor getting the ax for questioning the fair-haired boy's work. The mayor's toast as well as Chris I suspect, with Marlo being the instrument of Chris's demise.

I'd like to hear what the rest of you boyz think - that includes you Tribe Time - so let 'er rip!

The Wire - Heading To the Finish Line

mauichuck — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 01:42:06 -0000

Well, nobody else would do it so I thought I'd start another "Wire" diary. I couldn't participate in the last one cuz I couldn't get HBO where I was and didn't wanna spoil the surprises. Any way here's my feeble attempt to get another diary started.

First off does anyone else find it disconcerting that many of the actors in "The Wire" - as well as other HBO dramas like, "Oz" and "Deadwood" - seem to cycle between HBO and the Dick Wolfe stuff? You kinda identify with what's his name - the black police colonel in "The Wire" and then you realize he was the undercover cop in "Oz" faking the Jamaican accent. Just a thought. And is anybody else tired of Richard Belzar?

More to the point, the plot line is beginning to spin outta control. It's a race between three forces trying to bring justice to Chris and Snoop. One, McNulty has a loopy scheme to catch the vacant house killers that is having unforeseeable consequences - the only way to do real police work is to flim-flam the system. Omar is working feverishly to bring street justice to Marlo and his crew. And Bunk is using old fashion police work to find the killers. Since this is structured fiction the author can choose whichever method he wants to catch the killers to illustrate his point - if he has a point. In real life my money would be on Omar - cuz I think he'd be only one to bring any passion to his work.